Another "had to roll my own" pistol holster

[DeWayne Hayes]

2 hours ago, Mablung said:

What's the 17L for? Hunting, competition? Wouldn't think the latter, since it's in a thumb-break crossdraw holster, but the model is just an oddball mostly used by competition shooters. I like the balance of long-slide models, though. 

Just for fun!  Not too many 6" barrel 9mm pistols out there - you get higher velocities than you can with most other 9mm handguns. Just something to have. 

[Mablung]

8 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

Just for fun!  Not too many 6" barrel 9mm pistols out there - you get higher velocities than you can with most other 9mm handguns. Just something to have. 

Always a good reason. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

I'll tell you what I did run into with this holster ... The snap arrangement fit perfectly when I made it - I established the position for the female side of the snap while in wet moulding and then punched it when dry. Everything lined up nicely. BUT ... 

After I dyed the holster and let it air dry all night, the holster shrunk a bit, most noticeably the retention strap. I had to pull on the strap for a while to stretch it a bit to re-establish the snapping geometry.  It's easy enough to unsnap, but getting it re-snapped can be finicky. 

I reckon I should have left the gun in the holster when drying, but I didn't want dye on the gun and also wanted the interior to have air circulation to dry. 

I think I'm going to try coating the inside of the strap with neetsfoot oil and wrap a thin piece of leather over the back of the pistol to stretch on the strap overnight and see if that helps. If not, I may get in there and do some surgery to move the female end of the snap up a mm or so. Concealing that work will be the trick, but I think the head of the snap will cover any changes on the exterior. And whatever it looks like on the inside will be hidden and dyed black, so hopefully not noticeable. 

I reckon it was the alcohol in that pro dye that caused the holster to shrink. I went at it pretty heavy. I do love how stiff it made the holster though, overall. This was a pretty spongy piece of 8/10 oz veg tan, and it's nice and hard now. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[Southerngunner]

Very nicely done and that welt is insane.  Whenever I'm forming a wet or a dyed holster I  wrap the gun or knife in a couple layers of saran wrap to keep the  moisture off. Perhaps just wet the retention strap and cover your glock and snap it and let it dry. Just a suggestion. 

[DeWayne Hayes]

25 minutes ago, Southerngunner said:

Very nicely done and that welt is insane.  Whenever I'm forming a wet or a dyed holster I  wrap the gun or knife in a couple layers of saran wrap to keep the  moisture off. Perhaps just wet the retention strap and cover your glock and snap it and let it dry. Just a suggestion. 

Thank you - good idea. I wonder if water would work better than neetsfoot to re-wet mold the strap? I hate to reintroduce water, but it may be the only way to get some stretch. 

I know what I'll do - I have a dud holster that has the same issue. I'll try it on that one and see what effect I can achieve with water. That way, if I have a problem, it won't matter. 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by DeWayne Hayes

[Southerngunner]

3 hours ago, DeWayne Hayes said:

Thank you - good idea. I wonder if water would work better than neetsfoot to re-wet mold the strap? I hate to reintroduce water, but it may be the only way to get some stretch. 

I know what I'll do - I have a dud holster that has the same issue. I'll try it on that one and see what effect I can achieve with water. That way, if I have a problem, it won't matter. 

 

The neatsfoot would probably work as long as the strap is wet enough to stretch.

[Dwight]

Actually . . . if you DO NOT put either water or oil on the strap . . . just stick a piece of 8/9 oz strap under the one on the holster . . . do the big boy "UGH" pull and get it snapped.

Leave it lay on the dinner table or some similar place overnight . . . get up tomorrow . . . it'll fit . . . guaranteed.

I often get a question from my customers "How can I get my holster just a bit looser . . . not quite as tight a fit.

I tell em to put the gun in a gallon freezer bag . . . stuff it in the holster overnight . . . take it out of the bag . . . check the fit.  Very seldom do they have to resort to two bags together.

Leather WILL STRETCH . . . just don't get in a hurry for it to do so . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[DeWayne Hayes]

Thanks, guys. I have the gun wrapped in Saran wrap and in the holster, with the strap wet on the inside surface and re-molding itself in the proper position. I'll leave it in there for several hours. Already felt like it was loosening up. 

I was spurred to action as i took the pistol to an indoor range today, and it was so cold in the range, I couldn't get it re-snapped! That's just too tight for good service - needed to be stretched.  I learned my lesson though - next time, I won't mount the female snap until after the holster is dyed and dried and shrunk all it's going to. Good to know. 

Good news is the pistol is a shooter! 

 

[Mablung]

On 12/11/2023 at 4:21 PM, DeWayne Hayes said:

Thanks, guys. I have the gun wrapped in Saran wrap and in the holster, with the strap wet on the inside surface and re-molding itself in the proper position. I'll leave it in there for several hours. Already felt like it was loosening up. 

I was spurred to action as i took the pistol to an indoor range today, and it was so cold in the range, I couldn't get it re-snapped! That's just too tight for good service - needed to be stretched.  I learned my lesson though - next time, I won't mount the female snap until after the holster is dyed and dried and shrunk all it's going to. Good to know. 

Good news is the pistol is a shooter! 

 

So's the one shooting it.  What distance?

[DeWayne Hayes]

That was 22 rounds with 3 at 7yds and the rest at 10 and 15 yds. Slow fire - if I was shooting fast, it would be all over the place!